Good morning. Good morning.
This is a brand new podcast and we are going to look at the book of Psalms.
And I'm going to show you how to meditate on God's holy word,
just in case you don't know how, or maybe you need a refresher.
Cause I know I wish someone had walked me through on this,
but I will say this,
the number one thing that's going to help you understand God's holy word is to
read his holy word and you need to get a good Bible.
I have several translations. I love reading God's holy word.
And the reason why I love to get different translations is because the
original language of the Bible,
the original text was in Greek and Hebrew,
and then it was translated into Latin and then possibly some other languages.
And then down to English, English is a dead language,
meaning it's not really elegant language that is used to translate into other
languages per se. So that's why it's good to get multiple translations,
but I am using the it's called the new international version Bible
and it is the NIV leadership Bible and it's reader to leader in 15 minutes a
day. I love this Bible so far. It has been really wonderful.
It gives great insight.
I also like how it gives timelines because I like historical data because I love
documentaries. And so we'll go ahead and start, start with the book of Psalms.
And I start with the book of Psalms because it is one of my favorite books ever
since I was a little girl and it's one of the easiest books to understand God's
love. And it's just very comforting because you know, the book is Psalms,
but they're also written in a form of a song as an S N O
S O N G S.
And it's one of those things that somewhat,
sometimes these are written in kind of a, a melody type fashion.
And other times it's written more poetically.
And other times it's written just in a kind loving manner,
but not necessarily to stringed instruments, because sometimes all these songs,
it will say to be song a certain way,
or you have well, like for example, in Psalm eight,
it says for the director of music, according to get it,
and I'm not sure if that's how it's supposed to pronounce that.
Cause I haven't seen that before, but, um,
says that that is probably a musical term and it says a Psalm of
David.
So a lot of these were written to comfort the heart.
And I think this is something that we could all use,
whether whether you believe in God, God or not,
I think this is a great way to comfort your heart and to give you hope in your
life. If you do believe in God, you know,
for sure use this along with your prayer life.
And sometimes what I would do when I would get home from church.
Like if I didn't take communion at church, I would come home,
read a couple of readings from the holy word of God and then take communion.
You know, you can incorporate God's holy word into your life.
So let's take a look at the first song. It said,
bless it as the one who does not walk and step with the wicked or stand in the
way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers.
But whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and
night, that person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither whatever they do
prospers not. So the wicked,
they are like chaff that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor centers in the assembly
of the righteous for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
So here's how I look at a Psalm like that.
I look at it line by line or verse by verse or first thing I do is I sit and
meditate. You know, what is this song? Speaking to me?
W what is God trying to tell me through this song? So over the years,
the holy spirit has guided me in different things through this particular song,
because every time I read God's holy word, I learned something new.
That's what I love about this book. It is wonderful because it's it's,
even though it's a book it's not dead, it is a living,
breathing document and Testament of God's holy covenant with us, his word,
his promises, and his love for us. So it's living and breathing.
It's still live. And you know that because of how God loves you.
So let's take a look here. It says,
blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the
way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers
right there.
The first thing I thought of was to be careful who you keep company with.
And I remember when I was in high school, there were some people that, you know,
they may have seemed funny, but they were not good people to be around.
They just had a very kind of disturbing, twisted sense of humor,
like so much so that it wasn't even funny at times. But I just thought,
you know, is that really who I want to be around? And those teenagers,
they got into really weird forms of trouble. And I was like, you know,
I don't want to be associated with people like that.
Like if they can't act normal, then I don't want to be around that.
And you're probably thinking, well, they're teenagers. Well,
I think a lot of adults give permission to teenagers to act however they want
when they shouldn't. Um, teenagers are still minors in the,
in the eyes of the law.
And what some teenagers need to know is that there are some laws that if you
break, you will be tried as an adult.
So it's important that you be careful who you hang around, who you listen to.
And if you have children, if you have teenagers, you are the adult.
And it's important that you train them in the right way.
That doesn't mean get a Bible and Joseph beat them over the head with it.
It means just day by day step-by-step, you know, train and then character,
character building, um, attributes that is really important for young people.
And it says,
but whose delight is in the wall of the Lord and who meditates on his law day
and night. Now, some people might read that literally and think that, oh,
you've got to lock yourself in your room and read your Bible all day every day,
and like never leave your house and not be a part of society.
That's not what that is talking about.
When it's talking about taking delight in the law of the Lord,
that means you're taking delight in his protection of you.
He guards and protects you. And it really comes down to that. You know,
that your heavenly father is good and true, and that he loves you.
The next part is meditating on his law day night. Well, that, like I just said,
it doesn't mean just only reading his word and never reading anything else.
What that's talking about is knowing God's holy word and having it in your heart
and knowing and believing in the goodness of God. Because for example,
when I'm going for walks, I walk anywhere from three to maybe five miles a day,
and that's not including the running that I do because I'm training for a
marathon, but there are a lot of times that when I'm walking or running,
I meditate on God's holy word in my heart,
or I'm praying to God because you don't have to be kneeling by your bed to pray.
You don't have to,
you'll make a huge amount of outward signs of prayer to pray
if anything,
that's the direct opposite of what we're supposed supposed to do when we pray.
And we really want to have a one-on-one and it's a serious one-on-one with God,
we're supposed to go to like a prayer room,
or you can go to your upper room as it says in the Bible and you know,
or your closet, and just meditate and be alone with God and talk to him,
have a serious conversation with them. You know,
a good relationship is one that is not haughty,
meaning you're not doing it just to be seen.
So it's important that your prayer life be private. That doesn't mean that it,
Hey, if you're out and about, and you need to stop and pray for a moment,
then for sure, stop and pray.
But the most common way that I am praying is I'm praying while I'm cooking
breakfast. You know, it's just a silent prayer within my heart.
I'm not making a big to-do. Yes. I'm scrambling eggs. Yes.
I'm baking bread and toasting toast and having bacon.
And other times I'm, I'm praying while I'm driving. And it's just a,
just a soft prayer within my heart. It's not some big to do.
I don't always have music on while I'm praying.
I don't always have a particular prayer music or prayer song because I love all
different kinds of music.
Like I've tried to do the whole prayer music thing and just listen to one type.
And it just, it drives me nuts because I want to listen to everything, you know,
as long as it's not extremely vulgar, you know,
I like all different kinds of music.
So I don't pigeonhole myself into one way of thinking or one way of praying
another way that I pray as I pray while I'm walking. And I love that.
Cause it's, you know, people just say, oh, well, I, I don't, I don't pray.
I meditate. Well, technically prayer is a form of meditation.
And if you're meditating,
you need to make sure that you're meditating on the right things.
And the right things are everything that is good and holy and true,
and that come from God. So, because I look at it this way,
God will always lead you in the right.
Like I've learned over the years to not rely on my own thinking. You know,
I need to rely on God.
And it took me a long time to understand that because I thought, well, you know,
I'm an adult.
I'm supposed to know how to live my life and do those kinds of things.
That's not what that's talking about. Yes. God wants us to be full grown adults.
You know, not act like little toddlers or we'll toddlers or little kids,
but what it means to completely rely on God is that you rely on God
in that stage of life. Like when I was a child,
if I was to completely rely on God, I would be looking to him for food, water,
and shelter all the time. But when I was a child,
my parents were helping to provide that. So then when I became a teenager,
which mind you, my relationship with God was not very good for many, many years,
probably the first 20 to 30 years of my life. It was very tumultuous.
It was not the best. I would have moments of happiness,
but I'm closer to God now that ever have been, and I'm 37 years old.
And I'm very thankful for that. And so, um, you know, when you're a teenager,
you might be relying on God to help you pass the test. You know,
things like that. When you get into college, you know,
you might rely on God to get you home safely because you were drinking too much,
which more than likely the Lord will try and tell you don't drink and drive
and don't ever drink like that. Again, you know, in college you might be having,
God help you with, um, your, your test and to help you graduate. You know,
when you get out of college, you know,
your next assignment might be to get a job, you know, a good full-time job.
So you might go to God and ask him for help to help you get a really good
full-time job. And then you have, maybe you might want to get married.
So you would go to God, ask you, or you might go to God,
ask him to help you find a spouse because I have dated for years and years and
years, I'm not married. I do want to get married someday.
I just haven't found the right guy yet.
So what I learned took me a long time to realize this was go to God,
but that request, because he can find me the right man, the right man, that's,
that's just for me. And that, you know, will have a wonderful,
loving relationship and a wonderful, very blessed marriage.
And when I say super blessed, it,
I don't mean like being super religious and that we're just going to sit and
read our Bibles all day. I actually don't want that at all. Um,
I do read my Bible and I hope that whoever I'm married, you know,
likes to read a Bible, but, you know, I would,
I would be open to marrying someone that's either atheist or agnostic at this
point in my life because Christians, at least the ones I've been around,
sometimes they can be really extreme and I don't always enjoy being around them.
Like they kind of Christians that I enjoy being around are ones that are not
Bible thumpers. They're not there to shame and blame.
And I've learned just from my working experience as a business consultant,
that the number one people that I enjoy being around or people that are
atheists or agnostics, because they're not religious,
they're not brow beating you. I think Christianity, you know,
it is a wonderful religion. And I do believe it is the one true faith.
What I don't like is when Christians take it to the extreme and they use it as a
way to condemn people when that's not our job, you know,
we're supposed to bring people to Christ, not push them away. And I've learned,
you know, I really just want peace in my life. And you know, there,
there are times that I meet really good Christian men. And then it's like,
it's like, once we start dating, it just goes south.
It just doesn't go very well.
It's like this pressure to do things a certain way. And I'm like, no,
like you just need to get to know each other. You need to date. And you know,
if you meet the right person and you know,
within like a week or two or a month that, you know, you want to be together,
then by all means get married. That's a wonderful thing.
I don't have these rules that, Hey, you have to be,
you have to date for four months. You have to date for a year.
Then you have to be engaged for a year. Like, I think that's stupid.
If you know, you've met the right person, just go for it. I mean, God loves you.
He's guarding you and protecting you. Like,
I think what really bogs down Christianity are,
all these unwritten rules that we put on ourselves and we put on other
people. And I think that pushes people away. Well,
that's not what God says to do.
He says to focus on him and when you meditate on his law,
then you're not going to be consumed with all these other laws and all these
other regulations. And you know, you're,
you're not going to be concerned with other people think about you.
And God was very clear about that. Even in the book of Psalms,
this actually goes back to Genesis of God's love for us and how he doesn't want
us to view ourselves the way that other people view us.
He wants us to view ourselves as he views us.
And that's out of love and kindness as a loving father loves his children.
So you,
you have to be mindful of not taking things to the extreme.
And so I have since gone to a new church where things are not extreme,
you know, they do believe in God's holy word,
but they're not there to brow beat you. Cause I,
I really looked for a good church. I mean, I really scoped it out,
went to different churches, looked online.
I wanted to see what they actually practice what they say and do.
And it does what they say and do match up with God's holy word,
because I've been to churches that were just too strict. I couldn't stand it.
It was, there were some churches that were so strict.
There was like a Colt and some of them were practicing a call. And I was like,
well, I'm not staying here for sure. So, um,
let's go on to the rest of the song.
It says that person is like a tree planted by streams of water.
That verses verse three in this, in the first song.
And what I love about that is that it says,
notice this is that person is like a tree planted by streams of water.
It doesn't say a forest is planted near a stream of water.
It doesn't say a community is planted near a stream of water.
It says that person is like a tree planted by streams of water.
It's very individual. So you, God wants us to be very individualistic.
I think sometimes where people get confused with within Christianity and within
any religion is that, you know,
when you come together as a community or a collective,
that doesn't mean you lose your individuality. You know,
God made you for a reason. He made you an individual because he loves you.
He doesn't want you to sell off for any reason.
He doesn't want you to change because of people.
He wants you to change because of him because people are not God and they
don't know your heart, they don't know your soul, but God does. So he,
he very specifically speaks to us on an individual basis,
even though we come together and worship as a community and have fellowship
are first and foremost, you know,
responsibility as a person is to have fellowship with God.
And then you take that next baby step and you have fellowship with other
believers and you keep growing in your face that way. You're, you know,
religion, doesn't start with people. It starts with God.
And I think one of the biggest mistakes that Christianity makes is it puts
too big of an emphasis on people and not a big enough emphasis on God, because,
you know, without God, we don't have a religion,
so we need God in our lives. So you,
if it's one of those things that you really shouldn't put the cart before the
horse, otherwise you're not going to go anywhere.
So let's go on to the next verse. It says,
which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither whatever they do
prospers.
So the way I look at that is you have fruit,
different types of fruit in your life that will, that will our word, this,
that will bloom. And they will. How word this.
There's some of the things I, I say,
you basically have different fruits that you will yield in different seasons of
your life as you grow, not only just in your faith,
but as you grow in maturity as an adult.
So whatever you know made you happy as a 20 year old is probably not going to
bring you happiness as a 40 year old or a 60 year old.
So some people get really frustrated with that and they don't understand that.
You know,
we are continuously growing and changing as individual and as a person and it is
enriching our soul and the way that it,
it enriches our soul is that we are not staying stagnant.
We are continuing to grow closer to God.
And the way that you grow closer to God is that you change as a person
and that you, you long to see him. You long to be closer to God,
but as you grow older, you long to be closer to him, um,
in a different way, if that makes sense.
But then it goes on to say not so the wicked they're like chaff,
that the wind blows away. I've learned that wicked people,
evil people, not very good people, bad people, however you want to word it.
Cause there are different types of evil and there's different types of bad
people. Not all bad. People are evil. Some bad people are good people.
They just make extremely bad decisions.
But there are some people that they really are evil and wicked right down to
their core because they choose to be that way.
But what it's talking about here is that the wicked, you know,
basically God's not going to put up with really bad behavior like that,
even though he loves his children. You know,
our heavenly father is just that he's, he's a father.
He's going to discipline his children one way or another and you know,
whatever actions we take,
they need to be good and true because I've learned this.
It's mostly from working with, with people both good and bad.
What I've learned is that good people stand the test of time that people do not.
And the reason for that is because bad people, their intentions are not good.
They have character flaws. And instead of working on the character flaws,
they expect other people to just accept them as who they are and not,
and not a good person.
And unfortunately that doesn't stand the test of time in terms of goodness and
holiness and it doesn't lead to a better life. That's what it means.
When you know, evil,
wicked people will not be able to stand in front of God and they will not last
because their endeavors are not true. And holy.
So if you're going to have an endeavor, make sure it's true and holy that way,
number one, you can draw closer to God. Number two,
you can have a really good life. And number three,
you can be prosperous in everything that you do.
And plus also the Lord will guard and protect you.
So that's part of God's covenant with us. It says,
therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor centers in the assembly
of the righteous.
What that tells me if that last verse nor centers in the assembly of the
righteous I've learned over the years,
it's very difficult for me to be around a bunch of bad people.
And I'll give you an example. Like there was one time, um,
I was going into a business meeting and I could just tell there was a funky vibe
in the room. And by the end of the meeting,
I realized why I was uncomfortable is because every other person in that room
was not a good person. They were just saying really grotesque things.
And this was a professional business meeting. This was not like at a frat house.
You know, this wasn't like at a barbecue. You know,
this is a very professional business meeting, excuse me.
And these people were not behaving in a very professional way.
And we're talking about money and finances,
and we're talking about the future of the company. And I just kind of realized,
okay, this is not where I need to be in my career.
And also I don't want to make friends with people like this because he used
associate with is who you become.
So you need to be careful who you have in assembly with you,
who are you associating with? And that there, there are times that, you know,
you have to talk to people, be around people that you don't like or don't know,
but you don't have to let them into your life.
You don't have to make them a part of your lifestyle.
You don't have to let them in your house.
You don't have to have lunch with them. You know,
you need to be careful who you associate with because again,
whoever you associate with is who you become. So if you want a better life,
you know, say for example, you want to be rich. Well,
you need to start being around wealthy people.
You need to learn what they did to get rich.
You need to learn how to manage your money. You know,
if you want to be a better professor at a university,
you need to be around really talented professionals or maybe really talented
motivational speakers,
or maybe you need to get involved in speech and debate classes,
things like that. You need to be around who you,
who you want to emulate or someone that can mentor you and who you want
to be in terms of being successful in your career and in your life. You know,
like for example, when, uh,
when medical students are going through medical school,
they pick what type of internship they want to do.
And then they go intern there. Why? Because they want to be like that. You know,
if a surgeon, if they, um, if the medical student wants to become a surgeon,
they're not going to do an internship at a dermatology clinic,
they're going to do their internship,
probably at a surgery center or a hospital,
because that's where they need to be.
It's the same thing in our faith and also our careers, wherever you want to be.
That's where you need to figure out how to get there.
And you need to be around like-minded people like people that support you,
people that love you, people that care about you care about your welfare.
They're not there to bring your, to bring you down.
They're there to lift you up.
And that's especially important when you have tough trials and hardships in your
life.
Like you can be doing the job that you've always loved and that you've always
wanted, but that doesn't mean other other stuff won't happen to you. You know,
maybe, you know, your wife leaves you or your girlfriend leaves you, or,
um, or maybe, you know, you get in a car wreck or maybe, you know,
you get sued and you lose your house. You know,
there's all these different scenarios that can happen, but you know,
you still have the really good job per se,
but there might be other bad things that happen in your life.
So you really need to treasure those moments when you're around good time,
people that are like-minded, you're just like you.
So that way that will help cushion the blow of hardships in your life.
And it will help get you through to the next level of happiness.
And it will get you to the next level of success in your career, you know,
cause don't ever go backwards, always go forward. Always, always, always.
And example of that, I've used in my life is when I lost my job,
there was a company merger and I got, let go. I was not happy about,
but you know, I kind of read the writing on the wall,
but so instead of just taking any job,
like I knew what money I was making at the time.
And so I was not going to take a job that I was going to get paid less because I
did not want to be desperate for work.
So what I did was not only did I apply to jobs that were at the same income
level, but I applied to jobs that were double or triple my income.
That's how you need to handle a job loss. And that situation, you know,
if you're working as a corporate accountant or something,
you know, do not take a job where you're a day, laborer, nothing,
he gets day labor, but your skill sets are different.
And whenever you take a job that is not within your
skillset and below your skill set.
And I don't mean that in an arrogant or pompous way,
whatever job you take after you get,
let go pretty much defines where you're going next.
So if you change, you know, industries,
make sure it's the right industry you want to go into, you know,
if you're having to take a job because it's lower pay, make sure it's temporary,
make sure, you know, you let your employer know, Hey,
I need this job because I need to support my family while I'm here.
I will do the best I can. But I just want you to know,
I do need to make more money to better support myself and my family.
So I will need to go to interviews, you know, during the week, you know,
maybe once or twice a week, but I'll give you a heads up. But in that meantime,
I will give you everything I have in terms of my, my best work. And you know,
you know, maybe this job will work out and I'll get promoted,
but this is what I'm looking at. I've done that in the past.
And every employer I've said that to you has completely understood where I'm
coming from because most people understand what it's like to have a financial
hardship. And when you lose your job,
you at least need something coming in to pay the bills.
It doesn't mean you're going to stay there,
but you at least need something that's going to help you move on in the right
direction in your life.
So then it goes on to say for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
What I love about that verse is it says the Lord watches over the way of the
righteous,
because when you realize who your heavenly father is and who you are in Christ,
Jesus, you are guarded and protected all the days of your life.
That doesn't mean you won't have slings and arrows coming at you in terms of
hardship,
but it does mean that the Lord watches over you and he will help you get through
anything and everything. Because for the longest time when I was younger,
I thought that meant that I would never suffer. Well,
that's not realistic at all in life.
But what it means is that whatever you go through, God is there for you.
And sometimes the hardships I've had my life have always led to something
better. That doesn't mean that God set us up for failure. Not by any means.
God doesn't want destruction. Our life, he doesn't with death disease hardship,
or, you know, lack of money. Not he doesn't,
he's not the purpose that he's not the person that orchestrates that,
that that's not what God does. God is a very loving father.
He gives us free will in this world,
which also gives free will for some bad things to happen.
But they're not from God because everything that comes from God is good and
holy. And when I'd learned to look at the good things,
because I was always focusing on the bad, I was like, why is this happening?
You know, this is ridiculous. You know, why can't my life get better?
And so once I focused on the good things, focused on what I have,
what I currently have and what I want, then things got tremendously better.
I wasn't focusing on the bad. I wasn't focusing on the hardship.
Then I realized how,
how much I actually was blessed and that I don't need to worry about anything.
So when you focus on the good, that doesn't mean you're ignoring the hardship.
It means you're dealing with the hardship in a very positive, good manner.
And you're going to push through it a lot quicker than if you were focusing just
on the, on the bad events in life. And I'll give an example.
If all you're ever doing is watching the news and you know,
letting your brain take in all this horrible, horrific news every day,
every day, all day, multiple times a day,
what kind of mindset are you going to have?
And what kind of life are you going to have? What kind of.
Conversations are you going to have with people?
You're not going to be a very positive individual.
You're not going to have very positive conversations and more than likely,
you're not going to be a very positive person to work with or to go out with.
So flip that coin, change your life.
Stop watching the news all the time. I'll look at it this way.
If a catastrophe happens, I will get a text on my phone. Other than that,
I don't ever turn on the TV unless it's to watch something that I want to watch
from like back in the day from like 10 or 20 years ago. Like I just,
I don't watch a lot of current stuff because sometimes it's just too negative
and I want to focus on the good, because I want good things in my life.
But so that is the end of this lovely podcast. I pray that you have enjoyed it.
Um, if you would like to submit feedback or have a question or concern, or,
you know, you just want to, you know, have a prayer request or something,
be sure to email me, there's a link on my podcast website.
You can send that to me directly.
So until next time I pray that you have a wonderful week and I pray that you're
very happy and blessed and everything that you do. Amen. Bye-bye.